Par Fractal

A high-performance, cross-platform GPU-accelerated fractal renderer built with Rust and WebGPU. Features stunning 2D and immersive 3D fractal visualization with advanced rendering techniques.

Quick Start

# Install from crates.io
cargo install par-fractal

# Or build from source
git clone https://github.com/paulrobello/par-fractal.git
cd par-fractal
make r

# Or download pre-built binaries from releases

# Or try it in your browser (WebGPU required)

Try Par Fractal in your browser - No installation required! (Low quality mode for slower devices)

See the Quick Start Guide for detailed instructions.

Features

• GPU-Accelerated - Efficient WebGPU rendering for 2D and 3D fractals
• 35 Fractal Types - 20 2D and 15 3D fractals including Mandelbrot, Julia, Buddhabrot, Mandelbulb, Menger Sponge, strange attractors, and more
• Variable Power - Adjustable exponent (z^n + c) for 6 escape-time fractals: Multibrot, Multicorn, Multi-ship, and more
• Advanced Rendering - PBR shading, ambient occlusion, soft shadows, depth of field
• Real-time Interaction - Smooth pan/zoom, camera controls, parameter adjustment
• Mobile Touch Support - Full gesture support: single-finger pan, two-finger pinch zoom on iOS/Android
• High-Quality Output - PNG screenshots, video recording, custom resolutions
• Productivity Tools - Command palette, presets, bookmarks, undo/redo
• Custom Palettes - 48 static palettes, 12 procedural palettes (including Fractint-style), plus custom color schemes
• Web Browser Support - Run directly in browser via WebGPU/WASM
• Performance Tuning - LOD system, quality profiles, GPU selection

See Features for complete feature documentation.

Gallery

Supported Fractals

2D Fractals (20)

Escape-Time: Mandelbrot, Julia, Sierpinski Carpet, Sierpinski Triangle, Burning Ship, Tricorn, Phoenix, Celtic, Newton, Lyapunov, Nova, Magnet, Collatz

Density Visualization: Buddhabrot - escape trajectory probability distribution

Strange Attractors: Hopalong, Martin, Gingerbreadman, Chip, Quadruptwo, Threeply

3D Fractals (15)

Ray-Marched: Mandelbulb, Menger Sponge, Sierpinski Pyramid, Julia Set 3D, Mandelbox, Octahedral IFS, Icosahedral IFS, Apollonian Gasket, Kleinian, Hybrid Mandelbulb-Julia, Quaternion Cubic, Sierpinski Gasket

Strange Attractors: Pickover, Lorenz, Rossler

Command Palette

Press Ctrl/Cmd+P to open the command palette for quick access to all features:

• Fractal Selection - Switch between all 35 fractal types
• Effects - Toggle AO, shadows, DoF, fog, bloom, FXAA
• Color Modes - Palette, normals, orbit traps, debug visualization
• LOD Profiles - Balanced, Quality First, Performance First
• Recording - Screenshots, MP4/WebM/GIF video recording
• Settings - Save/load presets, import/export configurations

Features fuzzy search matching - type partial names to filter commands.

Documentation

Getting Started

• Quick Start Guide - Get up and running in 5 minutes
• 2D Fractals Guide - Explore Mandelbrot and Julia sets
• 3D Fractals Guide - Navigate Mandelbulb and Menger Sponge

Reference

• Features - Complete feature descriptions
• Controls Reference - Keyboard shortcuts and mouse actions
• Architecture - System design and implementation
• Documentation Index - Complete documentation overview

Installation

Using Cargo (Recommended)

# Install from crates.io
cargo install par-fractal

# Run the application
par-fractal

Requires Rust 1.70+. Install from rustup.rs.

Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-compiled binaries from the GitHub Releases page:

1. Go to the latest release
2. Download the appropriate binary for your platform
3. Extract and run

macOS users: Allow the app in System Preferences → Security & Privacy if prompted.

Using Homebrew (macOS)

For macOS users, par-fractal can be easily installed using Homebrew:

# Tap the official Homebrew tap
brew tap paulrobello/par-fractal

# Install the application
brew install --cask par-fractal

Homebrew pulls the cask from the dedicated tap repository at github.com/paulrobello/homebrew-par-fractal.

From Source

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/paulrobello/par-fractal.git
cd par-fractal

# Build and run (optimized)
make r

# Or use cargo directly
cargo run --release

Basic Usage

# Run with default settings
par-fractal

# Or use the Makefile for development
make r              # Run in release mode
make build          # Build debug
make test           # Run tests
make clippy         # Run linter
make checkall       # Run all checks

Key Bindings

2D Mode

3D Mode

See Controls Reference for complete keyboard and mouse documentation.

Platform Support

Desktop

• Windows - DirectX 12 / Vulkan
• macOS - Metal
• Linux - Vulkan

Web (WebGPU)

• Chrome 113+
• Edge 113+
• Firefox 141+
• Safari 26+

Cross-platform compatibility through WebGPU (wgpu-rs).

Technology

• Rust 1.70+ - Core implementation
• wgpu - Cross-platform GPU API (WebGPU)
• winit - Window creation and event handling
• egui - Immediate mode GUI
• glam - Mathematics library
• bytemuck - Safe GPU data casting
• image - Screenshot encoding
• Trunk - Web/WASM build tool

Web Build

Build and run Par Fractal in a web browser using WebGPU:

# Install Trunk (WASM build tool)
cargo install trunk

# Build for web (release)
trunk build --release

# Development server with hot reload
trunk serve

The web version is automatically deployed to par-fractal.pardev.net on releases.

Note: The web version has most features of the desktop app except video recording and file system access (presets/bookmarks use browser localStorage).

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the contribution guidelines:

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/paulrobello/par-fractal.git
cd par-fractal
cargo build

# Run quality checks
make checkall

All contributions must pass:

• Formatting (cargo fmt or make fmt)
• Linting (cargo clippy or make clippy)
• Tests (cargo test or make test)

Resources

• GitHub Repository
• Issue Tracker
• Crates.io Package
• Documentation

Performance Tips

For the best experience:

1. Run in release mode (cargo run --release or make r)
2. Ensure GPU drivers are up to date
3. Start with lower iteration counts, increase gradually
4. Use LOD quality profiles to balance quality and performance
5. Disable effects (DoF, soft shadows) if experiencing low FPS

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Paul Robello - probello@gmail.com

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the mathematical beauty of fractals
• Built with the amazing Rust graphics ecosystem
• Thanks to the wgpu and egui communities

Explore the infinite complexity of mathematics through the power of GPU rendering!